


Home

by Selenic



Category: Last Hope (Juushinki Pandora)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family, Ficlet, Fluff, Home, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 16:24:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17646203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenic/pseuds/Selenic
Summary: When the world had almost been destroyed, Jay had ended up receiving a gift he had not expected - a family.





	Home

**Author's Note:**

> This is my (late) entry for the Story works challenge 'Change', and my first fic in this fandom! I wanted to explore the idea of family, because it comes up in the series a lot through the relationship the people share, and wanted to write a small ficlet about Jay having found a family among the others as well ^_^ Unbetad, all mistakes are mine. Hope you enjoy ^_^

 

Home

 

Night was already falling when Jay finally started to make his way back home, but now that the reactor was working as it should, the lights of the city shone bright enough to banish the coming darkness. Jay smiled as he watched the rainbow of colours move on the surface of the river. Neo Xianlong had survived another day.

Even at this late hour the city was bustling with activity, and filled with sights, sounds, and smells—marks of life. People were arguing, chattering, and laughing, a variety of scents drifted from the street vendors’ stalls and the open windows of the houses Jay passed by, and the vividly lit signs of shops and restaurants shone side by side with the warm beckoning lights of lanterns hanging by doorways, leading you home. To know that he had done his part in protecting all of that was reward enough for all the work, and Jay would not ask for anything more. Yet when the world had almost been destroyed, Jay had ended up receiving a gift he had not expected.

All that seemed so far away now in his mind, even though only a few months had passed since then. So little in Jay’s daily routines had changed, and his work and duties remained the same, as did his devotion to them. His life was dedicated to protecting the Princess, and Neo Xianlong, and always would be, but now Jay took more pleasure in witnessing the results. Walking home was a way of reminding himself of what they had accomplished together as team. As a—

 _Family_.

Jay was still trying to wrap his head around the concept. He had long ago learned to live without such a thing, accepting the solitude that came with his position, and hadn’t even thought to yearn for one. But even so he had gained a family, comprised of the unlikeliest of people, bound together by something that Jay couldn’t fully understand. The Princess and her sister Fiona, Doug, Queenie, Cain, Gren—they had all become an inseparable part of his life. Then there was also Chloe, and that one troublesome guy who kept getting lost even in a house just big enough for three.

It started to rain just as Jay reached the right block of houses, and a soft drizzle accompanied him as he took the stairs up home. The creak of the wooden steps was almost welcoming now after a few weeks had passed since the move. At the door Jay was met by a warm smell of food. With a slight hint of something having burned.

“I forgot. It’s his turn to cook dinner tonight,” Jay muttered and frowned briefly, not for long. “Family Contract article 23, always come home to eat dinner,” Jay recited, and then added, “even if you’re afraid of what it tastes like.”

Jay smiled again, and opened the door with a fullness in his heart he still found hard to get used to. He’d had a place he had called ‘home’ before, but it was merely a room he had lived in compared to the home he had found here, with these people.

“Make sure you both eat something, Leon!” Chloe shouted, and almost crashed into Jay on her way out.

“Welcome home Jay, I’m off!” she continued without stopping and rushed by him in a hurry, carrying an umbrella, and a bag that no doubt held some baking supplies. Chloe and Queenie had found a shared interest in it, and friendly rivalry had ensued. Her skill and enthusiasm for cooking were excellent, especially compared to the third member of the household who still fumbled even with simpler dishes.

“Family Contract article 73, remind Leon of that!” Chloe called back one last time before disappearing behind a corner.

“Always wash your dishes the same day,” Jay replied quietly and sighed. He could already imagine the chaos awaiting inside.

“I’m home,” Jay announced when he entered, but there was no reply, as usual. He closed the door and removed his shoes, placing them next to another pair that he first had to line up properly. Then he made his way into the kitchen.

He found Leon sitting by the large table, munching on Mahua and working too intently to even notice Jay’s arrival. Despite Chloe and Jay’s best efforts to keep at least the kitchen table clean of unnecessary things, half of it was once again covered by a mess of wires and gadgets, with Leon’s screens hovering over them. At least he wasn’t naked this time. Jay had discovered that number five was one of the most referred to Family Contract articles of them all.

On the empty side of the table sat a large steaming plate of... something. Jay could only hope that Chloe had helped enough with the preparations to make the food edible. Beside the plate was a large bowl of rice, and two sets of clean dishes and two pairs of chopsticks, waiting to be used. The cooking area on the other hand was crowded with dirty pots and pans. Jay sighed. Sharing a space with someone this untidy was also something he was doing his best to get used to, and he had to praise Chloe for having lived with Leon for so long without any help.

Jay walked over and snatched the tablet from Leon’s hands, turning all the screens off and setting the thing on the table.

“Ah, Jay!” Leon exclaimed with surprise when he looked up, but then he smiled widely. “Welcome back.” And he sounded too happy for Jay to admonish him for the state of the kitchen. He’d save that for later. Right now, he wanted to savour the moment, of having someone, of having a family, to return to. Besides, even if Jay didn’t want to admit it, a happy Leon was embarrassingly adorable.

“I’m home,” Jay said softly, and leaned down to kiss Leon and taste the Mahua flavoured warmth of this incorrigibly disorganized and absent-minded genius that had stolen his heart. Love was as new and confusing a notion to Jay as family was, but the longer he lived with Chloe and Leon, the more he came to understand what both really meant.

“Eat,” Leon mumbled against Jay’s lips. “Chloe made me promise I’d make sure you eat properly.”

“She’s not coming home?” Jay inquired between kisses, his hands wandering in to Leon’s hair and setting it free. The strands fell on Leon’s shoulders framing a face that was beginning to flush slightly.

“Chloe is... staying over at Queenie’s place tonight,” Leon managed to say, but he was clearly getting distracted.

“Then the food can wait,” Jay told him. He wanted to thoroughly fill up on Leon first while he had the chance. There was a look in Leon’s eyes that until recently had only appeared when he was close to a scientific discovery. Now they shone this way for Jay as well, bright and hot and alive, and the fire it lit inside Jay was as novel as to him as everything else in his new life involving Leon Lau. He had come to know a lot about desire as well, but he wasn’t the only one making discoveries in that area.

Jay took Leon’s hand and pulled gently. Leon nodded and got up slowly, and Jay drew him in for another kiss, languid and sweet, and for a long while they both got lost in a world entirely their own. Then Jay led them to their bedroom and into the bed that they shared, as family, as lovers, and as two people learning the joys and pleasures of a sharing your heart with someone.

Later on they showered, they re-heated the food and ate after Jay had made some adjustments to the flavour. They talked, argued, laughed. They washed the dishes as they had promised to Chloe, and went back to bed and slept

At night, Jay woke up when Leon curled up next to him, mumbling science even in his sleep. He kissed Leon’s head, and silently vowed to protect him and Chloe no matter what it would take. For even though his daily routines might not be that different from before, and his dedication to his work would always remain the same, Jay’s life had changed in more ways than he could count. For better, for worse, and forever. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I am home,” Jay whispered softly, smiled, and went happily back to sleep.

 

~~~ End ~~~

 

**Author's Note:**

> Someday I also want to write the story that tells how Jay and Leon actually ended up together ^_^


End file.
